A Way With Words
by Celeste.J.Evans
Summary: Castle and Beckett celebrate their anniversary. Dedicated to SheWhoTangles.


**Set sometime in the future - any one of their anniversaries before they get married - this is a little one shot for my darling SheWhoTangles. Merry Christmas Darling and thank you for being my friend.**

**Anyways, here you are. Oh, and follow me on twitter **vatrask

**Enjoy 3**

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He held her hand firmly as they slowly made their way down the hallway, her eyes tightly shut but her face relaxed in her trust "no peeking now" he sing-songed even as he could feel her rolling her eyes.

"I'm not." She hummed because she could barely contain her concern and excitement. Hyperaware, she could feel it the moment they entered a small, dark staircase, damp and cramped: the stairwell leading to the roof of his building. One more step and the air became clean and warm, washing over her skin with the smell of melting wax and freshly baked food.

His breath tickled her neck as he pressed his weight behind her "alright, open your eyes."

Before her was a scene laid out of the perfect summer scene with a picnic blanket held down by rocks, a basket of food and what could have two dozen long candles all lit and glowing in the evening light. She gasped, turning to him with speechless wonder as he bent to kiss her open lips. "Happy Anniversary, Kate." She swallowed, still lacking any words to describe the scene and the wonderful man before her. Taking her silence as rejection he quickly tried to reassure her "nothing fancy – just like you wanted – just some good food," he smiled "good company, and absolutely no outside distractions.

She bit her lip and whispered "it's perfect, thank you." She leaned in for another kiss, a real one this time, his hand wrapping around hers. The light in his eyes grew brighter as he led her to the blanket in the middle of the roof where there was just enough room for the two of them to sit down. "Where's the mood music?" She was only half teasing – the man thought of everything.

She chuckled and she knew she was done for. "I was thinking we could make our own music?" She rolled her eyes even as she wrapped her lips around the strawberry he offered her.

Two hours later the candles had dimmed and the breeze had picked up, washing over the couple who were currently lying on the floor covered in nothing but the picnic blanket. She rolled onto his chest, the blanket wrapping tightly around her body while laughs shuddered her body. "Well that escalated quickly." His arm came up to her waist and he pulled her tighter, laughing with her.

"It really wasn't that far of a stretch. From feeding each other fruit to…other things."

"Speaking of stretching" she hums, placing soft kisses down his chest "I don't remember you being able to do that before."

"I promise that it won't happen for a while." He feigned a groan and she giggled, startling him from his laughter.

"Maybe you're just an old man."

She squealed when he flipped her, pinning her arms at her sides. "Old man" he muttered. "I assure you, Miss Gold Digger, I am incredibly fit for my age."

She grinned, wriggling underneath him "I was never insinuating that you weren't unbelievably in shape, I was just hoping to get a…rise out of you." He growled and came down to bite her lip in a rough, passionate kiss. "I see it worked."

"You…" he breathed, struck by all of her being, before he surprised her by rolling on to his back. He took the blanket with him.

She gasped after him, climbing to her with and stumbling on her wobbly knees as she ran after him. She caught him near the door, holding the blanket around his hips and a placing a bottle of wine between them. "Let's toast." He squeaked as she came up to his chest.

She raised an eyebrow at him, before snatching the bottle from him and taking a quick swig. "To us."

He took it back from her "to us; to our past, present and future together and the adventure we are sharing together."

She rolled her eyes, grabbing the bottle back "you are such a writer." She gulped "another drink!"

Castle laughed, taking the drink from her "this is the second bottle we've had."

"So?" She fell into him, her back meeting his chest as she brought the bottle to her lips. He wrapped her around in the blanket, taking a sip from the bottle she offered him, feeling more and more buzzed and jittery with excitement and love.

He hummed with pure contentment "do you know how long I've waited for this? Celebrating our anniversary together?"

"I know," she smiled, pulling back "I feel the same way but you never seem to believe me." When he didn't respond she tilted her head back to look at him "how can you honestly think that I haven't been wanting this for just as long as you have? I might not wear my heart on my sleeve so it might not have shown but I've loved you just as long and just as deeply." The ear-splitting grin that broke out on his face was enough to soother the embarrassment of her impromptu confession and she leaned over for a sweet kiss. He smiled into her, bumping her with his hip until she started stumbling around the room, pulling her with him. She grabbed his hands, feeling much too light to be keeping her feet on the ground, dancing around. He spun her and she laughed – how loved that sound – and he stared into her eyes with nothing but devotion shining through.

"I love you." He placed a sweet peck on her nose and she scrunched her face.

"I know." She lifted on her toes, prepared for another kiss but he suddenly pulled back, swinging the bottle in front of her face.

"Another drink!" She grabbed the bottle away and wandered out of his arms as she finished off the bottle, tossing it back at him. He barely caught it with an amused laugh.

"You know what, you are _always_ the one with the way with words." She stumbled over her naked feet, giggling at her clumsiness "it's my turn to…have a way with words." The breeze picked up to a secret wind, gathering her hair and making her shiver against the cold. She walked unsteadily to the edge of the roof and looked out at the city lights. They were on one of the taller buildings in the area so Castle wasn't worried about that but he still hurried to wrap an arm about her before she tipped over the edge. She leaned forward to the edge of his grasp, raising her arms, and shouted "I love Richard Castle! I'm going to marry him someday! I" the rest of her declaration was smothered by a blanket over her mouth as Castle pulled her giggling form back a few steps. She wriggled out of his grasp and grabbed his arm to drag him to the edge. "Come on, shouting frees the soul."

How could he deny her? "I love Kate Beckett! I'm going to marry her someday!" They kissed sweetly and danced back to the center of the roof, still wrapped in the picnic blanket while the wind howled around them. She ran her hands up his chest and pulled her arms around his neck, breaking the kiss with a laugh that he quickly followed. "Alright" he wrapped his arms loosely around her hips "it's time to head inside."

She sighed, resting her head against his chest "you're right." She patted his chest and pushed away "let's get our clothes." They turned around to where their clothes had been discarded earlier but they were meant with empty space. "Where're our clothes?"

"Where're our clothes?" He echoed. He took a few steps to peek over the edge of the roof just on a hunch and sighed grandly so she joined him on the edge. Hanging limply from a clothes line two stories down was Castle's boxers. "The clothes blew away."

They looked up at each other simultaneously and Beckett bit her lip, her eyes glossy but comprehending "what are we going to do now?"

Martha opened the door of the loft, digging through her purse to ensure that she had her keys but stopped suddenly when she came face to face with Beckett and Castle standing before her, blushing burgundy red. She looked the couple up and down – Kate wrapped in a blanket and her son with only a picnic basket covering his lower half – and quirked an eyebrow. "Did you both have a good anniversary dinner?" It was comical how much Kate blushed but she decided to give the poor girl a break and let them past. "Goodnight darlings." The couple were inside the loft before Martha had even closed the door. Once inside – and alone – they both heaved a sigh of relief and sagged against the door before turning and smiling at each other.

"Best anniversary ever."


End file.
